Coincidence? Maybe not
by AwesomePP
Summary: James and Lily are in their final year at Hogwarts School a normal boarding school in Scotland . One day, they find out that they both love reading Harry Potter. Despite their clashes and disagreements, this could be the start of a beautiful relationship. And James thinks that this is all a mere coincidence.
1. Chapter 1

If you asked the students of Hogwarts School where their favorite place on campus was, you might get answers like 'the common room', or 'my four poster', or 'the kitchens! For food, that is.'

But if you asked Lily Evans, the Head Girl, she would reply the shelf of Harry Potter books in the library. She was a Potterhead, always. Until the very end. To her, the magic would never die, even after the final premier, which was going to happen in the summer after her A-Levels.

So whenever she was stressed or upset, she'd go to the shelf of Harry Potter books in the library, run her fingers over the spines and pull out whichever Harry Potter book she desired. It didn't matter to her if the book was _Chamber of Secrets_ or _The Half-Blood Prince_, she loved all of them the same. And fortunately for her, no one ever checked out the Harry Potter books from the library. The series was considered childish among her fellow classmates and they stopped reading after they hit twelve and a half.

Now, Lily Evans was a peculiar, peculiar girl. She was a girl that saw the world differently than others. She was like Luna Lovegood in some ways but she had the strong mind of Hermione Granger. She was a good friend like Ron Weasley and was beautiful and witty like Ginny.

Even with such amazing qualities any 21st century girl would dream to possess, people looked at her rather oddly because of her eccentric ideas.

* * *

'Mum, are the leaves sad on the ground?' A three year old Lily would ask her mother while strolling around the park in autumn when the brown leaves scattered the ground.

'Why dear?' Her mother would ask a bit wearily as she knew that the next sentence Lily said would be as strange as her previous one.

'They're all…brown. I don't think brown is a very happy color.' Lily answered matter of factly.

Her mother sighed, 'I don't know, sweetie.'

'Let's ask them!' Lily said cheerfully and bent down to do just that.

Lily Evans mother had hoped it that this would grow out of Lily but no, it continued as she grew up.

When she was nine and was playing at the swing set with her sister, Petunia, Lily screamed gleefully, 'Tuney, swing higher!'

'Lily,' Ten-year-old Petunia said sternly. 'You're not supposed to. Mummy told you not to.'

But Lily just tilted her head and asked curiously, 'But if you don't swing high enough, how are you supposed to jump off and fly into next week.'

Needless to say, Petunia found these comments very irritating. And it irritated her endlessly until Lily had been offered a scholarship at a posh boarding school in Scotland called 'Hogwarts School.' Now, Petunia was no longer annoyed by her sister but was green with envy and this envy turned into something horrible and mean.

'You think you're so good with your _scholarship_ and that _boarding school _up North.' Petunia had snarled at Lily before she boarded the train as Kings Cross Station on September the 1st of Lily's first year.

Lily's eyes had filled with tears on that day and just whispered, 'I'm sorry, Tuney.'

* * *

But Lily stayed Lily as she went through the years of school at Hogwarts. She still had that spark in her that made her different from other students.

'Why do you think people smoke?' A health counselor that was visiting the school asked the student body. Many people said 'peer pressure' or 'family habits'. The counselor nodded and started to carry on with his talk about cigarettes before 13 year old Lily Evans stood up and said, 'It looks good.'

The counselor patiently said, 'We've already mentioned the "cool" ideas, young lady so-'

But Lily cut her off, 'I meant, the smoke looks good.' The counselor's jaw dropped.

'You know, the cigarette smoke. It's thick enough to been seen in the air yet thin enough to be prodded around even when there's no breeze. It's a beautiful spiral, you see.' Lily said seriously and even waved her hand in a spiral to emphasize her point. 'There's something striking about the smoke.'

The whole hall fell silent at Lily Evans and her best friend, Emmeline Vance, tugged on Lily's shirt to motion her to sit down. From that moment on, everyone thought Lily to be a bit strange. Except for another 13 year old boy who went by the name of James Potter.

He silently chuckled and ran his hand through his hair and whispered to his best friend, Sirius Black. 'I like this girl.'

* * *

But that was a long time ago. Now, Lily Evans and James Potter were in their final year at Hogwarts School. They were both top of the class and obviously, Head Girl and Head Boy.

Unfortunately, they did not get along.

During their previous years, they had shouting matches in the common room, angrily turning away from each other when they were in the same room and hissing insults to each other when they passed in corridors. The strange thing was, James Potter used to be infatuated with Lily.

He couldn't go a day without asking Lily out, or winking at her, or throwing her a cheesy pick up line from movies. And it annoyed Lily to no end.

But I say _used to be _because somewhere in Sixth year, James Potter had stopped with the asking, the winking and pick up lines. He had actually gotten a girlfriend that could last for a whole month and could keep quiet in class. It seemed that something or someone had made James Potter…grow up.

Perhaps it was with the exams, GCSEs or A-Levels. Or maybe it was his parents getting fed up with his act. Or maybe it was Lily Evans. No one knew.

That's not exactly the point now. The point is Lily Evans was currently wondering why was _The Order of The Phoenix _was missing from the shelf. She was stressed out from Head duties with schoolwork and she was craving that very Harry Potter book.

_That's not possible. _Lily scanned the shelf again. _The Philosopher's Stone. The Chamber of Secrets. The Prisoner of Azkaban. The Goblet of Fire. The Half-Blood Prince. The Deathly Hallows. _But there was no Order of the Phoenix. No one ever checked out or even read the Harry Potter series at Hogwarts. Lily was the only one who read it. Who could've possibly borrowed it?

Then a new voice cut into her thoughts, "Just a moment, Sirius. I've got to put this back there." Lily spun around. It sounded like James Potter. It looked like James Potter. And it smelt like James Potter as a tall 17 year old walked up to the shelf and placed the school's only copy of the Order of the Phoenix back between the fourth and sixth book.

"Potter?" Lily whispered.

"Evans!" James beamed at her. "Fancy seeing you here."

"I could say the same." Lily arched an eyebrow. "I wasn't even aware that you knew where was the library."

James shrugged, "I could say the same. But they brought me here." He jerked his head at the seven books.

"What? Going to rub it in people's faces that your last name's all over the cover?"

James laughed loudly, despite that they were in a library. "I genuinely love Harry Potter, Evans. It's just a mere coincidence that we share the same name."

"And his dad's." Lily corrected.

James smirked. "That and his mother's."

"I didn't mean that…"

James just sighed, "Just a coincidence, Evans."

"Wait," Lily began. "Why are you here, borrowing books? I've never seen you even read them before."

"I read them in my dorm." James explained nonchalantly. "I used to bring them to school each year until this year because of all the bloody A-Level books hogging up my suitcase's space." Lily then understood why James always had a larger suitcase then the others.

Lily shook her head in wonder, "You, James Potter, reading Harry Potter of all the books in the world."

"Harry Potter takes me out of the world." James replied simply. "It's different and I love it." Then he smiled and walked away.

* * *

Before we move on, there's something everyone should know about James Potter- he hadn't been ordinary for a single minute for his entire life.

First, there was his looks- he was an active member on the football team, which gave him a body that all teenage girls lusted for. He was tall but anyone who talked to him always had a feeling that they were at the same eye level. Girls said that he was dark, rugged and had a crooked smirk that they all dreamed of. But little did they know that how dark, rugged and smirk-y James Potter was, he still had the childish glee on his face when he was happy. And at times, he was obsessed with things like a little boy would be obsessed with toy cars.

(Which brings us to the second point.)

One of these things was Harry Potter, Fanfictions, and tumblr blogs dedicated to Harry Potter. He was constantly referring to numerous Fanfictions and Harry Potter.

If someone told him to wait, he'd yell dramatically, 'I did my waiting! Twelve years of it! In Azkaban!'

If someone made a statement about or to him (even if it were something like "James, could you pass me a pencil), he'd smile mysteriously and say cockily, 'Always.'

When he was play fighting in the classroom, he'd point his pencil at his enemy and say haughtily, 'No one laughs at God when they're staring down the end of a wand.'

And if he were defeated (which rarely happened), he'd say quietly, 'I've made peace.'

But this happened a long time ago, before he entered Hogwarts. When he finally stepped on the Hogwarts Express at Kings Cross station, he had excitedly make a Harry Potter reference but no one bothered, no one answered and no one cared. And already on his first day of first year, he was a bit disappointed.

Until that day when Lily Evans made the comment about cigarette smoke being beautiful. James had read about it in a brilliant Fanfiction called 'The Life and Times' by Jewels5. He had wanted to make exactly the same comment but Lily had beaten him to it. So for the first time since James entered Hogwarts, he didn't feel alone.

Not that James was lonely in the first place; he was popular amongst his year group with his three other friends Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Although they didn't called themselves by 'Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs' or the 'Marauders', James had always thought that they were an incarnation of the famous quartet.

That was because they were pranksters too. They caused grief to teachers as they pulled pranks of every sort each week- from ketchup packets under toilet seats to Jell-O falling out of air conditioners in classrooms.

There was only one thing that they weren't alike (besides the werewolf part)- James had bought them all fedoras once he had read the 'Phoenix' chapter in The Life and Times. Sirius had a silver fedora; Remus had a brown one, Peter a grey one and a black for James himself.

When Remus had asked why did James bash a new fedora on everyone's head on a random morning in their second February at Hogwarts, James just smiled slyly and remarked, "Fedoras are classy." And they wore their fedoras proudly whenever they could around the campus.

Another thing that was strange about James was he could spend whole Sunday afternoons in front of his Macbook, sprawled on his four-poster. During these hours, he would hyperventilate, squeal, cheer and once, Sirius had spotted tears running down his best friend's face while staring, captivated, at the computer screen.

"What on earth have you got there?" Sirius finally asked James in their second year at Hogwarts.

"Merlin." James corrected, his eyes still not leaving the screen.

"What?" Sirius cocked his head.

"You said 'what on earth' when you should've said 'what in the name of Merlin.'" James replied.

Sirius just rolled his eyes and peered at the computer screen. He expected something erotic, something interesting or at least something exciting. He did not expect James to be looking at a whole page of words. Apparently, James was _reading. _

"What has Remus done to you!" Sirius shouted dramatically.

"Absolutely nothing." James said, still reading on the Internet.

"Enough with the reading." Sirius snapped, he grabbed both sides of James' face and shook him until his glasses were crooked. "You. Need. To. Get. Out. Of. This. Trance."

"I'm a fan of it, Sirius." James said, rather annoyed now because in the he was at the part where Lily was supposed to confess her love to James. He jerked his head back to the screen while Sirius shook his head and sighed. He was about to slide off James' bed when he heard a high pitch squeak from James.

Sirius' eyes widened, "Please tell me you did not make that sound."

But James didn't reply for he was grinning like an idiot at the luminous screen and a lone tear rolled down his cheek, "She…said…it…"

Sirius smacked his forehead. "James, you sound like a total girl. Wait, no. A fan-girl." When James didn't say anything, Sirius turned his head back to glance at him and groaned to see that James had clicked on the next chapter.

The last and most important thing about James Potter is that he was literally obsessed with a girl who was called Lily Evans because James knew that Lily was a bit like him and the characters in the books and fics- they both were witty and smart, loved to banter with each other and were the brightest students in their year. James felt that he could connect with Lily, for he understood Harry Potter and different types of minds with all the reading on . And James knew that he she was beautiful, funny and kind at the same time.

What he didn't expect (but loved it all the same) was he and Lily did not get along well, after all. Their personalities clashed, she didn't want to go out with him and he couldn't stand her temper.

'_Go out with me?'_

'_Has hell frozen over yet?' _

'_Um, I don't think so.' _

'_Then no.'_

* * *

'_Hey, Evans-'_

'_I'm busy that day.' _

'_But you haven't even heard which day yet.' _

'_Well, whatever day you decide on, I will make sure that I will be busy that day.' _

James knew he was going down the same road as his namesake, maybe the same fate, even. But in his head, he knew that this was all mere coincidence.

* * *

**A/N: First thing- I know the timing is a bit wrong (like The Life and Times didn't come out five years before DH Part 2 premiered) but remember, this is an AU fanfiction so I could make James have a twin brother who went by the name of Severus Snape (but I know that no one wants that so yeah, James and Lily in the 21st century with tumblr and fanfiction!) And basically, this whole fanfiction is a bit wrong. But...what do people say these days...? Oh, right- You Only Live Once! (Except for Harry Potter, that is.) I thought I'd give this AU idea a shot and there you have it. :) **

**Second thing- The Life and Times and everything along with it belongs to Jewels5 (my username is AwesomePP and I do _not_ have the title 'The Life and Times' in my story list thingy). **

**Third thing- This is actually at the bottom of my 'List of Fanfictions to Write' (which means- not a priority like the Gallagher Girls fanfics) and I'll only continue this when I feel like it and actually have the time. So don't hate me when I update like every two months (if anyone even _care__s _when I update this one). **

**Last thing- please tell me in your reviews if you want this story to go on or not because if no one wants to read on, I'm giving up on this and returning to Gallagher Girls. **

**Cheers,**

**AwesomePP**


	2. Chapter 2

"_Dr. Phil is co-ming to Hoogwarts." _Sirius sang to the tune of 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town.' And he dropped lazily in the chairs of the Geography classroom.

Peter perked up. "You mean we're going to be on TV?"

"No, I think Sirius is referring to the counseling workshop we're having after school today." Remus said dryly and set down his bag on his seat. "Apparently, it focuses on self-evaluation."

James snorted, "I expect we're supposed to spill out all our secrets to the guy. Well, he's not getting any secrets out of me!" He slammed his fist down on the desk and his tone was like a spy vowing not to give up to the enemy's interrogation tactics.

Remus gave James an odd look, "James, your sarcasm is really starting to frighten me a bit."

"Or maybe you're getting old, Moony."

"_What_ did you just call me?"

"Nothing," and James hurriedly took out his Geography notebook.

* * *

Fortunately, the counseling workshop was nothing like an interrogation under the Russian embassy, like James imagined. And it was nothing like being on TV, like Peter wanted. But it was exactly how Remus had pictured.

Once the senior class had settled in the Great Hall for their workshop, the teacher in charge of the activity, Professor McGonagall said, "Now, for this workshop, everyone is to be split into pairs for discussion while filling out their evaluation sheets." All best friends glanced at each other. "The pairs are Pettigrew and Lupin, Black and Longbottom, McKinnon and Simmons, McDonald and Kyle, Evans and Potter…" There were groans and cheers around the room as people changed seats to find their partners.

Lily did not say a word when James made his way over to her. She was completely neutral to him at that moment. He read Harry Potter, which meant he couldn't be all bad. He had matured over sixth year, which meant he was rather tolerable now. And he didn't ask her out every hour he saw her so that meant they could actually converse with one another.

"What's cracking, Casanova?" James smirked as he sat down on the seat opposite of Lily.

"Potter, I don't think I have ever documented any of my sexual encounters." Lily said. "Although I'm sure you have."

James laughed, "Want to have a peek, Evans?"

Lily just rolled her eyes and read the evaluation sheet that McGonagall had passed down, _"Please state one ability that you are proud of._"

"So this is where we start bragging about our ability to tan." James muttered.

"What?" Lily looked up from her evaluation sheet.

James frowned. "I thought you read it."

"Read what?"

"The Life and Times." James said matter-of-factly.

"Potter, I am not reading one of your Casanova-like diaries."

He rolled his eyes, "Fanfiction, heard of that, Evans?"

"Not at all." James' jaw dropped. How could Lily Evans, of all people, have never heard of Fanfiction?

"Potter, I suggest you close your mouth before flies land on your tongue." Lily said, not looking up from her sheet of paper.

"You've really, never, ever heard of the glorious name of Fanfiction?"

"Really, no."

"Tumblr?"

"Never went on there before."

"Headcanons?"

"I seriously doubt that it's possible to have canons on your head, Potter."

"Shipping?"

"I don't own a trading company, Potter."

"OTP?"

"Are thinking of working in that bank?" And by then, Lily had already reached the last few questions of her evaluation sheet.

"_Discuss if you are satisfied with your social life with your partner." _Lily read aloud.

"What?" James snapped out of his shock that Lily had barely heard of things that were crucial to his life.

Lily waved her sheet in front of James' face, "The discussion?"

"Oh, um…right." James glanced down at his paper. "Ladies first?"

Lily was quiet for a while then she said, "I guess I'm lonely at times. I don't think people really…get me. They think I'm weird but really, I'm just saying what I'm thinking about."

"You mean you have lots of feelings about things but when you tell them to people, they have no idea what you're talking about." James said quietly.

Lily tilted her head gazed at James with a queer look, "Yes…you're right..."

"And when you go to a Harry Potter movie, you have to explain everything to your family members and friends. And sometimes the movies screwed up a really important part in the book and you're just so disappointed in the directors." James continued.

"You kind of summed up my life in three sentences." Lily leaned back in her seat and gave James a small smile. Then she carried on, "But enough about me. What about you? You obviously have no problem with your social life. You've got Black, Remus and Peter. Then you have a fan club." Lily jerked her chin at the group of girls that were shooting glances at James.

"James Potter the Golden Boy, what more could you want?" Lily teased quietly.

"Funny you should say that, Evans." James smirked. "For someone who hasn't read The Life and Times."

"Again, what is that?" Lily asked.

But James ignored her question, "Remember in third year, when you said that cigarette smoke looks beautiful?"

"Yeah," Lily muttered, her gaze dropping to the table. "It was embarrassing. Everyone thought I was a freak."

"No, I thought the same. But you beat me to it. It was something that I read in The Life and Times." James smiled lazily. "And at that moment, I knew there was something different about you and that's why I started to like you."

"So you didn't ask me out because I was the only girl who could turn you down." Lily raised her eyebrows. She had thought that the five hundred something times of asking her out was just a prank or a way to humiliate her.

"Every single time, I asked you because it was a genuine feeling." James said, his eyes unfocused like he was going back to fifth year, where he had been absolutely obsessed with Lily. "But back to me, I could sum up your life in three sentences because I know exactly how you feel. In real life, almost no one…understands me."

"But you've got Remus and-"

"They're my best friends, yes but they don't get my feels and shipping and what Sirius calls 'fangirling'." James chuckled.

"Which means…?" Lily arched her eyebrows, for she had absolutely no idea about what James was talking about.

"What I'm saying is…" James leaned closer to Lily until she could see her reflection in his wire-rimmed glasses. "My friends don't really know me but I don't feel lonely because I've met people, on the Internet, on tumblr who are like me. Who think like me and who also find themselves a bit lonely around their real life friends."

Lily blinked, "What…?"

James rested his elbows on the table and laced his fingers together. "Simply speaking, Sirius, Remus and Peter think I spend so much time on the Internet watching something like porn or bad movies but the truth is that I spend it surrounded by fantastically talented artists, writers, graphic designers, musicians, and generally interesting people who I can connect with."

Lily's mouth had formed an 'o' now. "Can you…show me?" Her mind raced- James was talking about something that seemed too good to be true. Was it really possible that there were people who thought like her? Was it possible that she wasn't alone?

"Just wait a moment, Evans." James laughed quietly as he rapidly filled out his evaluation form.

"Lily."

It was James' turn to say "What?"

"Lily, that's my first name. If you hadn't noticed for the last six years of calling me 'Evans'." Lily said. "And you know, I guess because you read Harry Potter as well. That has to count for something."

A few moments later, James suddenly jumped up from his seat and offered his hand to Lily, wiggling his fingers, "Come along, Evans!"

Laughing, Lily placed her hand in his as James dashed out towards the doors like a kid on a sugar high.

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Evans! Where are you going?" McGonagall demanded as they ran past her.

"The worksheets are on the table, Minnie!" James threw over his shoulder as the rest of the senior class gaped at the dark-haired boy and the red headed girl exited the Great Hall in a very loud manner.

* * *

"Welcome to lesson one of fanfics, tumblr and shipping. FTS, for short." James scrawled the three letters on the whiteboard the turned to face Lily, his arms spread wide. Lily arched an eyebrow and crossed her legs where she was sitting on a desk in the unused classroom.

"Now, the first and most important question is…who do you ship?" James asked. He had the craziest grin on his face. After all, he was in an empty classroom with the girl of his dreams and was talking about things that he loved most.

"Excuse me?" Lily hadn't the foggiest of what shipping was. "I'm not a pirate, if you hadn't noticed."

"That means any two characters, perhaps a male and female, and you desperately want them to date, marry and shag." James recited. "But for your convenience, we'll narrow it down to Harry Potter."

"Any character?" Lily ran through her list of couples in Harry Potter.

"Yes. Everything here is shippable. Even I'm shippable; But that, dear children, is self insertion, and is in fact frowned upon in most fandoms."

"_Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?_"

"Yeah, good old Dhal!" James grinned. "So…got your ship yet?"

"I like James and Lily." Lily shrugged. "I'd love to know more about them."

"And because they share your name?" James said slyly.

"Maybe…" Lily rolled her eyes playfully. But she grew serious, "I mean, we know everything about Ron and Hermione, Harry and Ginny and every other couple. But we have no idea about James and Lily. It makes me want to know more about them."

James clasped his hands together, "Lily Evans, you have made the smartest decision in your entire life because the people who ship James and Lily are one of the most dedicated and friendliest people there are. Like me. And this ship is basically the most romantic and tragic ship in the whole series. But that's for later, we move on to the topic of Fanfiction." He spun around and wrote the word 'fanfiction' on the whiteboard.

"Fanfiction is what literature might look like if it were reinvented from scratch after a nuclear apocalypse by a band of brilliant pop-culture junkies trapped in a sealed bunker. Well, that's the really long and scientific version of the meaning of Fanfiction that you can find on Wikipedia." James said.

"But why would people invest so much time on writing something that they can't even get anything out of?" Lily asked.

"There are many reasons why, young grasshopper. Some have too much free time, some just want to show off but some-" James had leaned close to Lily and his voice dropped into a whisper, "-genuinely love it. All worthy works of literature are open to interpretations that the author didn't intend. It's not a pet, Lily. It's a kid. It talks to you and you talk back."

Lily wondered where the James Potter who loved pranking and talking back to professors had disappeared off to because in front of her was a completely transformed James that was incredibly insightful.

"The most common place you can find good Fanfictions is . It's only 13 years old but it's the largest and most popular Fanfiction site the world. And I don't even bother counting the numbers of stories posted on there because, well…you can't." James continued. "Most of the time, authors are influenced by the couples they ship so you can just type in 'James and Lily' in the search bar and there you have it- all the Fanfictions related to James and Lily. After that, you can choose the length or the rating."

"So which ones do you recommend, Mr. Shipper?" Lily said amusedly.

"Since you're rather new to the fandom, I'll recommend these…" James turned around and wrote a few words on the whiteboard.

_The Life and Times Jewels5_

_Commentarius B. _

_Before the Fawn __andelyn kinsey_

_The Completely Manly Journal of James Potter Opungo_

_Obsessive Lily Disorder __Procrastinator-starting2moro_

__**A/N: So...I'm back! (Not that I went anywhere, I meant I'm back working on this story.) Thank you to all who had reviewed this story and favorited! You guys motivated me to work on this one. :) **

**Just to clear up something, James and Lily are kind of in their almost-friendship phase. They aren't enemies but they aren't exactly friends yet. And they are in the 21st century so their personalities might not be the same as in TLAT or Commentarius, which takes place in the 1970s. Sorry if anyone finds it a bit strange... **

**To thank everyone for motivating me, I shall give you a sneak peek of the first sentence of the next chapter: **_The past few days were the most traumatic of Lily Evans' short 17-year-old life. _

**Cheers,**_  
_

**AwesomePP**


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